The Israeli army intensively bombed the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing nearly 80 Palestinians, according to Hamas. Its soldiers continue to wage fierce battles against the Islamist movement in the city of Khan Younes, which has become the epicenter of the battle.
• Also read: Pakistan-Iran: A sudden rise in tensions in a destabilized region
• Also read: West Bank: Palestinian killed in Tulkarem on second day of Israeli attack
In the fourth month of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas, the risks of regionalization of the conflict are increasing with daily exchanges of fire on the Israel-Lebanese border, increasing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and intensifying American attacks in Yemen.
In the early hours of Friday, eyewitnesses reported heavy fires and airstrikes in Khan Younes, the capital in southern Gaza, where Israel says many members of the leadership of Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the United States and Iran in particular, live European Union.
According to the health ministry of Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, 77 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks in recent hours in several areas of the besieged Palestinian territory, including in Khan Younes.
The Palestinian Red Crescent spoke of “intense” artillery fire near the local Al-Amal hospital as a thick cloud of black smoke rises over Gaza, which has been devastated by incessant bombing that has forced about 80% of the population to flee the far south of the overpopulated 362 km² area.
According to the Israeli army, its ground forces advanced from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip under the cover of the air force and navy after entering Palestinian territory from the south on October 27. “Israel.
She added in a statement that fighting and bombings also occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, where “air and ground forces killed several terrorists.”
Hamas also reported fighting in the Jabaliya refugee camp and in Gaza City to the north.
In recent weeks most of the fighting has taken place in the south, mainly in the Khan Younes sector, but the army says it continues to face attacks from isolated Hamas groups in the north.
“Inhumane living conditions”
The war was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel that killed 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.
During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, about 100 of whom were released during a ceasefire in late November. According to Israel, 132 people are still imprisoned, of whom 27 are believed to have died.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas. According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, 24,620 people, the vast majority women, children and teenagers, have been killed and 61,830 injured in the incessant Israeli bombings and fighting in Gaza.
The attacks destroyed entire neighborhoods, caused a major humanitarian crisis and destroyed more than half of the hospitals in the Palestinian territory, which Israel has been under complete siege since October 9 following a 2007 land, air and sea blockade.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus decried an “explosive” health environment and “inhumane living conditions” in Gaza.
Faced with calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains inflexible and wants to continue the war, particularly until the “terrorist leaders are eliminated” and “our hostages return home.”
According to him, he also wants to regain “full security control” over Gaza and “have control over the security of the entire area west of the Jordan,” which is “contrary to the idea” of a Palestinian state.
His statement re-emerged the dispute with the American ally over the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
“We obviously see things differently,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council. For Washington, the creation of a viable Palestinian state is necessary for “real security.”
“Volcanic eruption”
“Without an independent Palestinian state, there will be no security and stability in the region. “The entire region is on the brink of a volcanic eruption due to the aggressive policies of the Israeli occupation authorities,” said spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The international community already fears that the conflict will spread.
Early Friday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for shelling an American tanker, the Chem Ranger, in the Gulf of Aden, the latest attack by that Iran-backed group against merchant ships in “solidarity” with Gaza.
The American military command in the Middle East (Centcom) confirmed shots were fired at the Chem Ranger, but it was not hit.
Before that attack, the United States launched new strikes, sometimes jointly with the United Kingdom, against Houthi positions in Yemen, which Washington re-designated as a “terrorist” entity.
“The madness and idiocy of the United States and the United Kingdom have worked against them: now none of their ships will be able to pass through one of the world's most important trade routes,” warned Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi official in Russian daily newspaper Izvestia.